Having a stash of drugs and sharing it with another user is possession with intent to supply.
Once that was explained in Summary Court last week, Vernon L. Pars pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply.
Magistrate Margaret Ramsay-Hale assured him she would not give him the same sentence she would give a drug dealer because Pars’ supply was not for commercial gain.
However, there were other factors to consider, including Pars’ previous convictions and history of drug abuse.
Pars had served short sentences in the past and they had not been a deterrent, she said. They did not offer enough time for any rehabilitation.
She then imposed a term of two years.
Defence Attorney John Furniss had raised the issue of sharing after Pars denied supplying.
Mr. Furniss said the defendant agreed he had purchased four cocaine rocks. He gave a woman half a rock in exchange for certain favours. The police found $10 on him which he was also going to give her.
The magistrate observed that the court knew from female addicts that they are paid in drugs for their services. The thing alleged is so much a part of the drug culture that it was not surprising, she indicated.
People who deal in drugs for commercial gain are sentenced differently, the magistrate indicated, because of what they do to people’s lives.
A person has a choice as to taking that first hit or not. After that, cocaine is so addictive that no one could say where it would end up. It’s the start of a long and terrible journey.
In Pars’ case, she reviewed his record and noted that he first cane to court for ganja in 1982, for cocaine soon after. In addition to other sentences, he received six months in 1995 for possession with intent to supply.
She wondered if his would end up a wasted life, or whether drugs would kill him one day, or whether he would find the motivation within himself to choose to stay sober.
Mr. Furniss detailed a family situation that had bothered Pars for years. It had recently been resolved and Pars now was motivated.
Along with the two years for cocaine, the magistrate imposed a nine-month sentence for possession of a utensil and this was made to run concurrently.
A separate charge of theft involved two putty knives valued at $8. Because he had a previous conviction for theft she imposed three months, consecutive.
The theft occurred in 2004. Pars did not come to court last year August as required and police did not find him until February 2005. For failing to surrender he received a further 30 days, for a total of two years four months.
The magistrate said she hoped Pars would be in prison long enough for the drug services to meet with him and put him back on the right path.
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